Nvidia Drivers?

[CWorth]

Just curious as to whether any of the newer beta drivers fixed the smoke rendering problems brought on by the 77.72 drivers?

All I can say is if Nvidia does not get their act together and their heads out of their a**'s the next card I will be buying is an ATI.

[Soviet_Warlord]

I'm definately buying ATI next. They have better prices here in Canada too, for the same performance of an Nvidia. But if you have a 5*** series card (like 5200, 5700, 5900), try the older drivers like 66.98. They are better optimized for the older cards, rather than the 7800 monsters.

[CWorth]

The card I have is a 6600GT that I got to replace the 5700OC that burned out last week.

[panthercules]

I'm using a 6800GT with the 77.77 beta drivers - I was getting CTDs and/or graphics problems with the 77.72s and 71.89s, but those seem to have been fixed with these latest betas

unfortunately, IL-2/PF does not seem to like the 77 series drivers - I get lots of graphics glitches, missing plane parts etc with IL-2/PF and any of these 70 series drivers - I can fix that problem by dropping back to the 66 series drivers, but then I start getting some crappy graphics glitches in SH3 (mostly sky texture wierdness, triangles or diamonds or other such shapes that you see if you look at the sky near the horizon through your binoculars/UZO).

[Capn Tucker]

Running 77.74 drivers on my FX5200. Still the white smoke.. :stare: I tried a 61 series driver, and had black smoke for a little while, but then it went back to white again. My next card will probably be an ATI; I've had it with the Nvidia...

[GT182]

I've been using the 71.89 drivers with my FX 5600Ultra 256mb card and all is fine. I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it. ;)

[Elder-Pirate]

BFG Tech support ( Nivida card mfg. ) told me to use 66.93 drivers as they are the most stable drivers to date.

I'm running the BFG GeForce FX 5950 Ultra 256MB AGP card.

66.93 runs great as the 77.72 drivers suck badly.

FarCry players dumped 77.72 as the game would not play.

@Capn Tucker........Are you talking about this kind of smoke?

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6420/blownup4bs.th.jpg (http://img150.imageshack.us/my.php?image=blownup4bs.jpg)

[Tim]

I have the nvidia GeForce 6800 pro. I had to go back to the 66.93 driver to play WW2 Online, Farcry and Thief, Dark Shadows. I haven't have any sort of trouble with SH 3, so like GT182 said, if it ain't broke don't fix it. So i'm really reluctant to update drivers, just because they are published. Stay with what works.

[Soviet_Warlord]

Running 77.74 drivers on my FX5200. Still the white smoke.. :stare: I tried a 61 series driver, and had black smoke for a little while, but then it went back to white again. My next card will probably be an ATI; I've had it with the Nvidia...

Get the 66.93 drivers. When you first see white smoke, position the camera so that the sun is in the screen along with the smoke. (you will need to have external camera on) Alt+tab. Then re-enter the game. The smoke should be black. Try it, it always works for me. (I have 5200 too).

Yyp, I'm going ATI next. I don't like using work-arounds, I like solutions, and this time the solution is ATI.

[CWorth]

I have never had the white smoke problem.The only problem I have with the 77.72 drivers is the smoke breaks up into small globs when you get close to a burning ship.It looks normal at range but the closer you get it starts to break up into small globs instead of a full cloud.

Only other issues I have are the normal ones that are well known...The particle bug in UZO which is now fixed in the newer drivers and the solar glare not showing when AA is turned on.The solar glare issue I personally dont really care about and can live without it..I still run 4x AA on my card and the game looks stupendous.

So the only real issue left for me is the smoke bug with the new drivers.

[Spike]

I'm using the 77.56 WHQL's and I see black smoke.I have a FX5200 256meg card.

[Soviet_Warlord]

The white smoke issue is only with the 5200 cards, maybe even all 5 series cards, like 5600 and 5900 too.

[Mad_Mark]

I have been using the modded 77.76 beta drivers from www.tweaksrus .com now for the past week and have found them to be the best drivers yet for my 2x6800 gt's.
Playing SH3/BF2/Farcry/HL2 these give the best results yet.
Why not give their web site a look in, they have a great driver forum going aswell.

[Duncan Idaho]

The white smoke issue is only with the 5200 cards, maybe even all 5 series cards, like 5600 and 5900 too.

Could be, I have an FX5900 Ultra, and have the smoke problem too.

[Soviet_Warlord]

The white smoke issue is only with the 5200 cards, maybe even all 5 series cards, like 5600 and 5900 too.

Could be, I have an FX5900 Ultra, and have the smoke problem too.

Did you get my work-around for that issue? If so, did it work?

[Duncan Idaho]

Did you get my work-around for that issue? If so, did it work?

Heheh, your fix for the smoke's been my fix for it all along. :)

In fact, I've told others the very same thing in other threads here. I've also fixed the 'sun glare' problem by running the game at 1280x1024 using the Resolution fix for WinXP with SP2. Nice payoff on that one, since not only do I get better resolution, but no sun glare problems. Sure wish there was a more permanant fix for the smoke problem though. The alt-tab trick doesn't always last all that long. :(

btw, fix works fine for me using 77.72 drivers. And, like you, my next card's gonna be an ATI...(though I've found one (only one!) person here with an ATI that says they have the white smoke issue, too...odd that).

[NZ_Wanderer]

I'm using 77.56 for my FX5900XT and am having no problems with SH3 at all :)

[Capn Tucker]

Running 77.74 drivers on my FX5200. Still the white smoke.. :stare: I tried a 61 series driver, and had black smoke for a little while, but then it went back to white again. My next card will probably be an ATI; I've had it with the Nvidia...

Get the 66.93 drivers. When you first see white smoke, position the camera so that the sun is in the screen along with the smoke. (you will need to have external camera on) Alt+tab. Then re-enter the game. The smoke should be black. Try it, it always works for me. (I have 5200 too).

Yyp, I'm going ATI next. I don't like using work-arounds, I like solutions, and this time the solution is ATI.

I tried the 66.93 drivers. Had black smoke for a little while. Even when looking at the sun. But shortly afterwards, the white smoke was back. I tried alt-tabbing out and back again, but still white smoke. But it no longer matters. Finally upgraded to a new computer over the weekend (from P3-800mhz to P4-2.8ghz), and I'm getting an ATI X800 for it. Problem solved...

[Stev1]

I have an FX5700 Nvidia Graphic Card and have no Problems with the 71.89 driver.

[Jotte]

Has there been any word on if Nvidia cards will ever be able to use AA and get the sunglare in SH3?

[Soviet_Warlord]

Did you get my work-around for that issue? If so, did it work?

Heheh, your fix for the smoke's been my fix for it all along. :)


Are you contesting my rightful ownership of the Nvidia White Smoke Fix? :arrgh!:

[Duncan Idaho]

Did you get my work-around for that issue? If so, did it work?

Heheh, your fix for the smoke's been my fix for it all along. :)


Are you contesting my rightful ownership of the Nvidia White Smoke Fix? :arrgh!:

Not hardly. Maybe partners, though. ;)

[darkdrone]

leadtek GT6600 running 77.76 drivers and i'm getting texture discolour eg in the command room the overhead pipes are sort of rainbow colour. if i was on some kinda mind altering substance i might find this funny but i'm not and i don't. strange that SH3 is the only game i have probs with oh well :doh:

[panthercules]

I've also fixed the 'sun glare' problem by running the game at 1280x1024 using the Resolution fix for WinXP with SP2.

Did this "fix" the sun glare problem because you are OK with turning off the AA since you're running at that higher resolution, or did this fix the problem so you can get the sun glare effect while running at the higher resolution with AA still turned on?

I've been shying away from the high-res fix because the documentation for my projector made it sound like it wouldn't be able to handle a signal imput using those high resolutions (and I just love plowing through the North Atlantic on my 100" diagonal wall/screen), but I just decided to actually try it and so far it seems to be projecting my 1280x960 desktop just fine, so I may go ahead and give this mod/fix a try - I'm not getting the white smoke problem with my 6800GT, but I sure would like to see the sun glare without all the jaggies it costs me at 1024x768.

[EDIT] - also remembered that I wasn't able to use the previous high-res fix because I was already using SP2 and it was only designed to work with SP1 - I see that there is now a fix for SP2 available, but its documentation is not clear (to me) as to whether you need to also install the previous SP1 part of the fix before you install the SP2 fix or if you just use the SP2 part (I think the former, but would like confirmation from someone who knows before I screw around with it) - anybody know for sure?

[Duncan Idaho]

I've also fixed the 'sun glare' problem by running the game at 1280x1024 using the Resolution fix for WinXP with SP2.

Did this "fix" the sun glare problem because you are OK with turning off the AA since you're running at that higher resolution, or did this fix the problem so you can get the sun glare effect while running at the higher resolution with AA still turned on?


It fixed it at 1280x1024 with 4xaa and 8xaf. Oddly, though someone else said it worked for them staying at 1024x768, that didn't work for me. So I run it at 1280x1024 with AA and AF as stated above, and I have no more sun glare problems.

As for installing it: I agree, the wiki is a little bit unclear about this, but yes, you need to grab the fix files and put them into your SilentHunterIII folder first. Then do exactly as the Wiki says. As long as the files from that zip file are in the game folder, and you have followed the XP SP2 directions to the letter, you should be up and running immediately.

Let me know how it goes, good luck. :)

[panthercules]

As for installing it: I agree, the wiki is a little bit unclear about this, but yes, you need to grab the fix files and put them into your SilentHunterIII folder first. Then do exactly as the Wiki says. As long as the files from that zip file are in the game folder, and you have followed the XP SP2 directions to the letter, you should be up and running immediately.

Let me know how it goes, good luck. :)

:nope: No luck - I unzipped the two files from the original SP1 fix (d3d9.cfg and d3d9.dll) and the 3 files from the new SP2 fix (SHIII.sdb and the 2 .bat files) into my SH3 game install folder (...\Ubisoft\SilenthunterIII ), and ran the SB2 Res fix.bat file

All seemed to go OK, but I get CTD errors every time I try to run SH3, either starting with my desktop at my target res of 1280x960 (I changed the res settings in the d3d9.cfg file to 1280x960 as the documentation instructed) or starting with my desktop back at its usual 1024x768.


Any ideas why this isn't working or how to fix it? Am I supposed to leave the files from the first fix inside their zip file and let the new SP2 bat file get them out of the zip file?

[Duncan Idaho]

:nope: No luck - I unzipped the two files from the original SP1 fix (d3d9.cfg and d3d9.dll) and the 3 files from the new SP2 fix (SHIII.sdb and the 2 .bat files) into my SH3 game install folder (...\Ubisoft\SilenthunterIII ), and ran the SB2 Res fix.bat file

All seemed to go OK, but I get CTD errors every time I try to run SH3, either starting with my desktop at my target res of 1280x960 (I changed the res settings in the d3d9.cfg file to 1280x960 as the documentation instructed) or starting with my desktop back at its usual 1024x768.


Any ideas why this isn't working or how to fix it? Am I supposed to leave the files from the first fix inside their zip file and let the new SP2 bat file get them out of the zip file?

Hmm, not sure what these other files are you mention, so I'll tell you what I did:

Firstly, to be sure we're on the same page, this link is to the fix that worked for me:

http://www.communitymanuals.com/shiii/index.php?title=Display_Resolution

I put the two files for the fix in, as you've done. I did not put any other files in, nor should you.

Follow the link in the Wiki (that I linked above) to download the latest version of the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit, install it, then follow the instructions in the Wiki for setting up the Toolkit to work with SH3's res fix.

That should be all you need to do. If you put other files in, remove them first, I have no idea what the files are.

[panthercules]

Interesting - just for grins, I sent an email to the contact address listed in the readme file to ask the maker of the fix what was going wrong. As it turns out, he/she got right back to me with a quick response and said that I had done the right steps as I outlined above, BUT that there were actually TWO versions of the SP2 fix out there - one for patch 1.3 and one for patch 1.4b - and that the CTDs were probably being caused by using the wrong version.

He/she included a link to the 1.4b version (I did have the older 1.3 version before, as it turned out - it wasn't labeled as such but the newer one he/she pointed me to actually had 1.4b in its file name), and when I tried using that one it seems to have worked just fine. I think that using the new SP2 fix means you don't have to fiddle with all that Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit stuff you referred to, and that maybe the new SP2 fix batch file takes care of whatever that toolkit stuff used to be needed for, but I'm not sure - I'll probably send the fix-maker another email and try to confirm that theory.

Only thing I noticed though was that, although I do get a sun bloom effect now at 1280x960 with AA still turned on, it's really kinda "too much" glare - it made the sun a rather too-large glaring place in the sky. Just for the heck of it, I tried hitting the old shift+pgup workaround keys and it actually reduced and improved the sun glare effect fairly dramatically (pressing it just once - more presses really increased/worsened the glare effect again), and since I was running at the higher resolution it seemed to introduce less noticeable jaggies than it did when I was using 1024x768.

All in all, it seems to be a pretty good improvement, so I guess I'll stick with it for a while and see if I can spot any other improvements or problems with it - thanks for the help :)

BTW - here is the link he/she gave me for the newer version that works with patch 1.4b (hope it works - it kinda pasted oddly):

http://sartori23.com/~sartori23/SH3%20XPSP2%20Res%20Fix%20for%201.4b.zip

The file I got back from that link was called "SH3 XPSP2 Res Fix for 1.4b.zip", in case the link doesn't work and you have to look for it elsewhere - it had everything in it that you need (including the two d3d9... files from the original SP1 fix) and it seemed to work fine, as noted above.

Good luck, and Good Hunting!

[Knotical]

As for installing it: I agree, the wiki is a little bit unclear about this, but yes, you need to grab the fix files and put them into your SilentHunterIII folder first. Then do exactly as the Wiki says. As long as the files from that zip file are in the game folder, and you have followed the XP SP2 directions to the letter, you should be up and running immediately.


I tried the mod ( I have SP2) and ran the batch file. The game would not start (crashed back to desktop) untill I removed the d3d9.dll file from the SHIII directory. Dont know what I did wrong as I had all the included files in the SHIII directory.

[Duncan Idaho]

He/she included a link to the 1.4b version (I did have the older 1.3 version before, as it turned out - it wasn't labeled as such but the newer one he/she pointed me to actually had 1.4b in its file name), and when I tried using that one it seems to have worked just fine. I think that using the new SP2 fix means you don't have to fiddle with all that Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit stuff you referred to, and that maybe the new SP2 fix batch file takes care of whatever that toolkit stuff used to be needed for, but I'm not sure - I'll probably send the fix-maker another email and try to confirm that theory.


I'm glad you got it working, either way.

Not sure about any of what you said about different versions, I'm running patch 1.4b, and I'm using the original files as posted in the Wiki as far as I know. (Then again, their are several places to score copies of that fix, and I might have gotten mine in one of the posts on the Ubi forum, just can't remember). Perhaps the Wiki needs to be updated with the new version you have, if your's works without having to do all that App Toolkit stuff. Certainly sounds easier. :)

I agree, though, that the version you have probably has the Application Compatibility bit already done for you, the App Toolkit does make a file with a .sbd extension in the SilentHunterIII folder. I notice I already have that file, I suspect that the App toolkit created it after I went through all the motions in the Wiki.

Anyway, have fun with it. Just glad you got it working, cause sun glare does add a lot to the game's immersion factor. (much better than the big red/pink disk did anyway).

[Krieg-Schwein]

I've got a GeForce 6800 GT and use the 75.90 drivers from http://www.guru3d.com/ and have never experienced any of the problems you guys have... I did extensive testing with a lot of drivers comparing my results with 3dmark and noticed that the 75.90 drivers were used probably 8 to 1 compared to other drivers using the same card in the highest score range. this was a while back that I did this but I stuck with these drivers because they gave ne the Best results and if it aint broke I don't fix it.

also I have been using the 3d fix with the SP2 fix and run the game 1600 X 1200 no problems

[panthercules]

Went to check out these particular drivers, and was really stunned at how many different versions of drivers were available at that site.

I D/Led and installed those beta drivers and will be trying them out, but in the meantime I discovered something odd - neither the old drivers (77.77 betas) nor these betas (75.90s) gives me a choice of 1600x1200 resolution - I have no idea why, but my choices jump from 1600x1024 to 1920x1080. I know I used to be able to get 1600x1200 several driver generations ago, as I used to fly IL-2 at that resolution for a while. 1600x1200 is standard 4:3 format, and I get a choice of the even higher resolution of 1920, so why in the heck don't I get a standard 1600x1200???

Anybody else seen this or know why this would be happening? is it a function of these beta drievrs (or betas in general) just not supporting all normal resolutions?


[EDIT] well, so much for these 75.90s - for some reason my in-game screen is all shifted over to the left and off-center :( guess I'll drop back to some older non-betas and see if I can get my 1600x1200 resolution back while I'm at it

[scrapser]

I have a GeForce 7800 GTX and with Sychronization off at 1024x768 I'm getting 145 FPS at sea and 93 FPS in the middle of a convoy attack with ships burning (225 inside the sub). I'm using 7.7.7.2 drivers.

scrapser

[WolfyBrandon]

Sup All,

Nvidia Geforce Drivers
Version: 77.77
Release Date: August 11, 2005
WHQL Certified

Yup Nvidia just released their 77.77 drivers today WHQL Certified, anyone try them yet? They dont say anything about any fixed SH3 problems in their release notes. :cry:

Wolfy

[Krieg-Schwein]

Went to check out these particular drivers, and was really stunned at how many different versions of drivers were available at that site.

I D/Led and installed those beta drivers and will be trying them out, but in the meantime I discovered something odd - neither the old drivers (77.77 betas) nor these betas (75.90s) gives me a choice of 1600x1200 resolution - I have no idea why, but my choices jump from 1600x1024 to 1920x1080. I know I used to be able to get 1600x1200 several driver generations ago, as I used to fly IL-2 at that resolution for a while. 1600x1200 is standard 4:3 format, and I get a choice of the even higher resolution of 1920, so why in the heck don't I get a standard 1600x1200???

Anybody else seen this or know why this would be happening? is it a function of these beta drievrs (or betas in general) just not supporting all normal resolutions?


[EDIT] well, so much for these 75.90s - for some reason my in-game screen is all shifted over to the left and off-center :( guess I'll drop back to some older non-betas and see if I can get my 1600x1200 resolution back while I'm at it

Did you use any thing to uninstall the remains of the old drivers?

try using driver cleaner from http://www.drivercleaner.net/ to remove the old drivers completly. as far as the screen shifting you may need to put the screen back at 85Hz or possibly it was at a lower Horz freq in which case it put the screen to 85Hz which ever the case if you adj the monitor to fit the screen it should stay there in that posision as long as it is set to that Horz freq whan you set it..you may need to adjust the screen whan ever you try a different Horz freq...
Good luck~!

[panthercules]

Did you use any thing to uninstall the remains of the old drivers?

try using driver cleaner from http://www.drivercleaner.net/ to remove the old drivers completly. as far as the screen shifting you may need to put the screen back at 85Hz or possibly it was at a lower Horz freq in which case it put the screen to 85Hz which ever the case if you adj the monitor to fit the screen it should stay there in that posision as long as it is set to that Horz freq whan you set it..you may need to adjust the screen whan ever you try a different Horz freq...
Good luck~!

Thanks - I found another set of betas that I had D/L'ed a while back but never tried (some 77.76 version from somewhere), so I tried those - using DriverCleanerPro to clean out any traces of previous drivers.


Then I figured out it might be the fact that my projector was listed as my display instead of my monitor that was keeping me from getting 1600x1200, so I re-installed my monitor drivers too. Long story short (I know - too late), I got my 1600x1200 back and no problems with screen shifting, BUT it turned out I really wasn't happy with the HUGE sun glare/bloom I was getting at these higher resolutions and wasn't seeing that much improvement with picture quality at those settings either.

So, I stripped out the high res fix, dropped back to 1024x768 and VOILA! - with AA=4x and not using the ctrl+pgup workaround, I actually get just the slightest bit of a glare/bloom effect that actually looks more realistic to me than any of the various alternatives I've seen before, the picture quality looks great and my FPS are better than at the higher resolutions, so I guess I'll stick with these or maybe try the latest WHQL 77.77s that I hear may be out now and see what happens.